


The One Thing I Need

by wingsyouburn



Series: Tifa Week 2020 [3]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Final Fantasy VII Remake compliant, Implied Sexual Content, Post-Canon, Pre-Advent Children (Compilation of FFVII)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:15:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24024934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingsyouburn/pseuds/wingsyouburn
Summary: Tifa works on reopening the bar, and Rude reminds her of an old fantasy of his.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart/Rude
Series: Tifa Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1729564
Comments: 17
Kudos: 26





	The One Thing I Need

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Tifa Week 2020 on tumblr, with the prompt: _“I’ll never be perfect, but at least now I’m brave. Now my heart is open and I can finally breathe.” - brand new me by alicia keys_

The new building for Strife Delivery Service was almost ready to go. The sign was hung on the door, and Tifa racked the last of the glasses behind the bar. Even now, she missed the rhythm of those nights at Seventh Heaven, chatting with her regulars and serving the best drinks in Midgar’s undercity. 

Cloud might run his business out of the apartment upstairs, but down here in the bar, Tifa reigned. 

A knock at the door startled her. She dropped the glass she held, only to catch it with the opposite hand before it hit the floor. “I’m sorry, we're not open for business yet," Tifa said, politely, as she glanced towards the door. 

Rude gave her a half smile, lingering in the doorway. "I know. Was coming by to see if I could help." 

She laughed. “You missed most of the heavy lifting. Convenient for you, I think." 

"You could have sent a message. I would have been here earlier.” 

"I could have." Cloud still didn't trust the Turks. As an organization, Tifa didn't either. But Rude was another story. In the wake of Sephiroth's insanity, when the world almost ended, Rude came to Tifa and offered his assistance. Granted, with Rude came Reno, who still referred to Avalanche as "a bunch of shitbirds," but Tifa learned to ignore him. 

Now, Rude was hard to ignore. Still in that sharp, dark suit, sunglasses on even though night was falling, unable to hide his happiness even though he tried. The littlest of expressions said the most when it came to Rude. Tifa had learned to read his face well by now. 

With all the glasses in place, Tifa rested her arms against the bar, leaning into the wood. "So why are you really here, Rude?" 

He raised an eyebrow. “Can’t a man see his girlfriend every once in a while?” 

“You should,” she agreed. “But I thought you were still traveling. Where was it that Rufus wanted to send you, again? The Northern Crater?” 

“You know I can’t talk about that.” 

It was an old argument between them, one Tifa knew wouldn’t be settled tonight.  For the most part, she’d learned to set those thoughts aside when she and Rude were together. He didn’t come to her as Rude of the Turks, but as a man wanting to be with a woman. They weren’t the same people they were in the height of Avalanche and their battle to save their world. 

Now, Shinra claimed to want to help better the planet. Tifa would believe it when she saw it, but she knew Rude’s heart. He was a good man who sometimes had to do bad things, and her own hands weren’t clean, either. 

None of them were perfect. All that mattered was that they could make a better life for themselves together. 

“Maybe,” Tifa said, coming out from behind the bar, “you can tell me more about how long you’ll be home this time.” 

“Five days.” Rude didn’t get long stretches of free time. They made the most of what time they got together, and now that Tifa had a bar and a home again, these visits could be a regular thing. “Your blonde delivery boy still hanging around here?” 

“Cloud?” Tifa shook her head. “He’s gone to Cosmo Canyon, at Nanaki’s request. Should be back the week after next.” Or, knowing Cloud, he wouldn’t be back for another month. He came and went as he pleased, and Tifa only hoped he found what made him happy. 

Rude tilted his head. “Good. Means we won’t be interrupted.” He glanced over his shoulder, adjusting the “closed” sign on the door.

Crossing the room, Tifa stood before him, hands on her hips. “Interrupt what?” she asked. 

He adjusted his gloves. It was a nervous tic, usually before a battle or a big fight. It amused her that Rude could still be nervous around her, too. “I’m a professional on the streets,” Rude reminded her. “And a professional in the… sheets?” 

She snorted, covering her mouth. 

“I’m not good with pick up lines.” 

“Why would you need a line when you already have me?” Tifa sauntered over, toying with his tie. She licked her lips, looking up at him. “It’s good to have you home, Rude.” 

His hands settled on her hips, pulling her into him. “One of these days we should get our own place. One that’s just ours together.” 

“You know you’re welcome here whenever.” 

“This?” He gestured to the building around them. “This belongs to you and Strife. I get that.” Rude leaned his forehead against hers. “I’d make sure you had your own bar.” 

Gently, slowly, she took off his sunglasses, folded them up, and tucked them into his jacket pocket. Warm, intense brown eyes greeted her. Though Rude was still fully dressed - and so was she - being able to see his eyes was more intimate than she realized at first. 

One hand tilted her head up. Rude crossed the minimal space between them and kissed her, slow at first before he opened his mouth to hers. He cupped her neck while the other hand pressed against the small of her back, making sure there wasn’t any space between them. “Missed you,” he breathed against her mouth. 

“Missed you too.” Tifa nipped at his lower lip. 

A low chuckle from him shook them both. “You know,” he dragged out, “we never did get a chance to break in the bar at Seventh Heaven.” 

“Oh?” Her first bar in Midgar no longer existed, as both of them knew. The layout of her new establishment was similar, down to the placement of the bar stools. It did not, however, have a secret hideout in the basement only accessible via a moving pinball machine. 

In one smooth movement, Rude lifted her up with the strength of one hand. Tifa squeaked, her legs going around his waist for balance. She liked that Rude was strong enough to carry her around, even though he didn’t have to.  He strode across the room with her, plopping her down on the edge of the bar counter. “I used to think about you,” Rude admitted, a low rumble in the back of his throat, “and that bar, just the two of us alone together.” He kissed his way down her neck, sucking at her pulse point. 

Tifa squirmed against him. She was strong, and so was he. He knew she wasn’t trying to get away from him. “And what sort of thoughts did you have?” she whispered, tilting her head back to grant him more room. 

“Inappropriate ones for a Turk.” His tongue traced along the line of her collarbone, nudging her tank top out of the way. “The short skirt and crop top never helped.” 

“Helped me get tips, you mean.” 

Rude growled, rocking his hips down in hers. Feeling how much he wanted her did nothing to contain her own desire. “I don’t care about any of your other patrons,” he ground out. “Not now, not then.” 

She giggled. For as straight laced as Rude was, she loved those moments when he let go. Only Tifa got to see this side of him, and she treasured him for it. As his fingers teased her, sneaking along her inner thigh, she gave it right back, loosening his tie and letting it hang open in front of him. “You always had eyes for me,” she said. 

“Always.” Even when they fought on different sides, Rude attacked but never hurt her. It reminded Tifa of a sparring match between equal partners, and they’d trained like that together before. 

But right now, she didn’t care about anyone or anything but him. Cloud wouldn’t be back for at least a week. Barret was traveling with Marlene, Yuffie somehow convinced Cid to hunt materia with her, Nanaki was in Cosmo Canyon, and Vincent disappeared into the wilderness, again. She could enjoy her boyfriend being home. 

One by one, Tifa popped open the buttons of his shirt, feeling the muscles beneath. Rude’s mouth worked over her neck, finding all those spots that made her sigh and shudder. “Rude,” she breathed. 

“Tifa.” He rested his forehead against hers. 

“I love you.” 

He drew a breath, staring into her eyes. His hands stilled, fingers hooked in the side of the boy shorts she wore beneath her skirt. “I love you too,” he echoed, eyes open as he kissed her. 

It wasn’t the first time he’d said those words to her, but knowing they had this time together - knowing she didn’t have to give him back to Shinra, or have another argument over what he did for work - meant everything. Tifa melted into the kiss, deepening it, leaving no question about how they felt about each other. Every time he said to her, it meant just as much as the first time. 

Rude always came back to her. That was more important than the time they spent apart. 

His hands made short work of her boy shorts, and then the skirt, dropping them behind him. Strong hands gripped her ass, yanking her into him. The first round, for them, was far from sweet and gentle. Both of them needed to feel that the other was there, real and alive, after years spent fighting against or with each other. 

Meanwhile, she had opened his shirt, pulled his tie from his person, and was busy stroking the smooth muscles of his chest. Rude didn’t have the lean strength of Cloud or Reno, nor was he a powerhouse like Barret, but somewhere in between. Tifa always appreciated that he cared for his body as much as she took care of her own. Many afternoons had been spent in one gym or another, testing each other through rounds of pushups and squats and lifts. Today they’d have an exercise suitable for them both. 

Her fingers skated down his abs to his belt buckle. Rude gave a moan. “Impatient, are we?” 

“You’re the one who already has me half naked,” she shot back. Her other hand pushed at his jacket. “Take these off.” 

In one fluid motion, Rude stripped out of the extra fabric and flung it across the room. It smacked into the front door of the bar, but neither one flinched. Whereas Tifa’s hands moved down, Rude’s moved up, tugging off the white sports bra she wore everywhere. “Every time, you’re more beautiful than the last,” he murmured as he exposed all of her to his eyes. 

Tifa shivered, and not from the cold. “Distance makes the heart grow fonder?” 

“No.” He kissed between her breasts, reverently. “I just don’t tell you it often enough.” 

She drew his head up, kissing his forehead in much the same manner. In the outside world, they weren’t allowed these moments of softness. Rude was a Turk with all the responsibilities that came with it; Tifa’s resilience was born from running both the bar and a resistance movement at the same time. Behind closed doors, in what she considered to be their home, was a different story. “Rude,” she whispered. “Make love to me.” 

“On the bar?” Now his eyes glittered with mischief, a move he must have learned from Reno. 

“On the bar,” she agreed. 

No one would interrupt them, no one would call for them, no one else mattered except the two of them finding heaven in each other’s arms. With each thrust of his hips, with each drag of her nails over his back, Tifa was reminded that they were all still here. Still alive. Still able to pursue the things that made them the happiest. 

And tonight, she was going to pursue the hell out of the man in her arms, and give him a welcome home he wouldn’t soon forget. 

**Author's Note:**

> Title also from "Brand New Me" by Alicia Keys.


End file.
